Pipes, pipe fittings such as "elbows" and pipe couplers, valves and supply manifolds as well as other plumbing parts are used in systems for distributing water and other liquids in a variety of applications. Perhaps the most common use is the supply of water to houses, apartments, and commercial and other industrial building for use by the occupants for drinking, cooking, cleaning and other sanitary applications. For many years, the standard material used for manufacturing the pipes, fixtures, couplings, and other plumbing articles has been metal, primarily copper and brass. However, more recently, the industry has turned to using alternative materials for manufacturing such plumbing articles. Plastic materials, in particular, are now widely used. Plastics offer advantages in that they are generally lighter in weight, more easily cut and shaped and, during the construction of a home or commercial building, the plumber can connect the plastic pipes using an adhesive or an adhesive-less coupler. Whereas, with copper or brass pipes and fittings, the plumber would be required to solder the joints in order to make a tight, leak-proof connection. Additionally, copper and brass plumbing articles are susceptible to corrosion, scale and lime build-up, and metal pipes affect the taste of drinking water. Plastic pipes and other plumbing articles do not suffer these drawbacks.
One of the major problems with many plastic piping, fittings and fixtures for plumbing applications, however, is the inability of the plastic materials to withstand hot water. While certain thermoplastic materials such as Radel R, a high performance poly(aryl ether sulfone), available from Amoco Polymers Inc., can be used to manufacture piping and other plumbing components for use in hot water applications, Radel R, as with many other high performance polymeric materials, is relatively expensive.
The art, therefore, needs piping and other plumbing articles manufactured from a thermoplastic resin, which is lower in cost but which can also withstand hot water service. The instant invention provides such plumbing components or articles wherein the plumbing articles are manufactured from a blend of at least two poly(aryl ether sulfones). The preferred blend comprises a poly(biphenyl ether sulfone) and a second poly(aryl ether sulfone) comprising bisphenol A residues. This blend of poly(aryl ether sulfones) provides for plumbing articles having outstanding resistance to hot water at a cost which is substantially reduced compared to, for example, that of plumbing articles manufactured from Radel R poly(aryl ether sulfones) or similar materials.